Believe in yourself…

As Henry Ford said, “Whether you think you can or you can’t, you’re right.” Go for it.

Visualise the pitch going well…

“Imagination is the beginning of creation. You imagine what you desire, you will what you imagine and at last you create what you will.”
George Bernard Shaw

So, in the same way that Beckham visualises his perfect free kick over and over again, fire up that vivid imagination of yours. See yourself connecting with the audience, smiling and being enthusiastic. Visualise the audience interacting with you…see the key decision maker agreeing to do what you want.

Use music to set your moods…

You’ll know only too well that music can massively affect how you feel. It has an awesome ability to access many different parts of our brain. Put something on your ipod while setting up the room or travelling to your meeting so you feel like you’re riding a crest of a wave.

Dress the part…

We all choose our outfit carefully before a hot date. So make sure you pick something that you feel great in. Don’t wear something new – unless you’re really comfortable in it.

Act like you want to feel…

Your body can fool your mind into feeling more confident. The way you sit and carry yourself will alter the energy that you feel. Posture is key to performing well. If you breathe from your tummy not from your throat – you’ll also feel more confident.

Put your shoulders back, stand tall and keep your head up. Remember this particularly for the first 30 seconds (when most people are deciding if they like you or not). Act, act, act.

Smile – it takes something like 43 muscles to frown but only 17 to smile. Why make it hard for yourself ?

If you smile, you will be happier than if you didn’t. If you’re happier, you will think more clearly, you will perform better.

Rely on ritual…

Fixed patterns of behaviour allow us to function more efficiently. Whether in sports, the military, medicine or business, the more demanding the performance, the more people rely on ritual to do the job. I used to go out with a surgeon who had a very particular way of selecting his music, washing his hands and putting on his gloves prior to an operation. Start devising a pre-pitch confident-boost ritual.

Reduce anxiety…

Anxiety is like the static on the radio when it comes to getting your message out. Turn as many of your unknowns into knowns during your preparation to prevent the static.

Shut the chatter up…

Notice the tone of your inner chatter – is it stern-headmistress-esque? Or perhaps it has a you’re-such-a-loser tone? Have a word with yourself. Be nice. Turn the volume down or change channels – tune into something that’s more encouraging, useful and fun.

Vision Express…

Using your peripheral vision is a trick that a brilliant speaker taught me. Look at something opposite you REALLY hard. Then while all your attention is on that one spot, you begin to notice what’s at the edge of your vision – as if you’re using wing mirrors but keeping your head straight ahead of you. A minute or two of this will enable your brain to do its best creative, lucid thinking. Do it when you’re heart’s thumping.

Some of these ideas came from Tony Jeary’s book, Life is a Series of Presentations.